Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Campus of International Excellence Southern Catalonia
Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work

Outreach activities 2025

The MyRobot project, led by Blanca Deusdad and Fernando Vidal, will study the impact of companion robots on people with dementia. To this end, it will make the seal robot known as Nuka, which was presented to the university community on 8 January at the Catalunya campus, available to elderly people with dementia.

On 20 and 21 January 2025 we had the visit of Dr. Leandro de Lajonquière, Professor at the universities of Paris 8 Vincennes Saint-Denis (France) and São Paulo (Brazil), who conducted this two-days' workshop. The activity was organised by MARC, DAFITS, DAC and MASGLOBAL.

On 31 January 2025, during the traditional DAFiTS coffee break, we had the opportunity to meet and talk with Carolina Kobelinsky. This anthropologist and CNRS researcher, who has devoted herself in recent years to investigate on the disappearance of migrants at the southern borders of Europe, was invited by our colleague Jordi Moreras.

On Wednesday 5 February, at the Arxiu d'Etnografia de Catalunya (Room 521), Dr Joan Prat Carós presented the book 'Salam Barcelona. Medio siglo de presencia musulmana', by Jordi Moreras.

On 14 February 2025 at the Francesca Bonnemaison Library in Barcelona, several MARC - DAFiTS members organized and participated at this workshop. Among them: Elisa Alegre, Sandra Caponi, Martín Correa-Urquiza, Sam Fernández and Ángel Martínez.

On Thursday 6/03/2025, from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. (Virtual), and organized by the Social Vocalia of the SCGiG, this webinar took place, led by Professor Mabel Gracia Arnaiz. Based on a socio-anthropological analysis of the eating practices of a group of elderly people in Spain, this presentation examines the ways of resolving meals taking into account, on the one hand, the effects of growing socioeconomic conditions and, on the other, possible gender differences.

On March 17, and organized by Dr Jordi Moreras, coordinator of the Master's Degree in Urban Anthropology, Migrations and Social Intervention of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Dr Antonio Gómez Villar presented the conference "Neoliberalism as a passive revolution".

With the title "Social Work and the Elderly: building inclusive futures", this year's Workshop was held on Thursday 20 March, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Aula Magna of the URV's Catalonia campus. With the participation of renowned social workers from the academic and professional world, members of social entities and representatives of the public administration, we had the opportunity to listen to two conferences and discuss about "Ageing at home" and the role of social work in the ageing process.

Within the framework of the subject Marginalization and social exclusion of the Degree in Social Work, on Thursday, April 3, the conference of Lucía Guerrero, from the Health Service of the City of Hospitalet de Llobregat, on Diogenes syndrome was organized. Lucia presented the results of an intervention and research project on this syndrome, shared between researchers from the Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Addictions (Parc de Salut Mar-Barcelona), the Centro de Investigación Biomèdica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM-Madrid), the Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine (UAB), the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM, Barcelona) and the Health Service of the City Council of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.

This second session of the Seminars of the Social Anthropology Group, entitled "Resilience, Dependence, Digitization. Views from Social Work", took place in the Arxiu classroom of the Catalunya campus on April 3rd. On this occasion, the presentations were given by Yolanda Domingo and María Robert, Claudia Anleu and Antoni Llort. Yolanda Domingo and María Robert presented their work on the digitization of basic social services in Catalonia. Dr. Anleu shared the general approach of her ResiYouth project, as well as the fieldwork carried out so far, the results and the preliminary reflections. Thirdly, Dr. Llort presented a phenomenological study on the experience and efficacy of ibogaine treatment for methadone dependence.

On Friday, April 4, 80 students of Social Work, Law and Computer Science participated in the Hackathon "Geomap on the sociodemographic situation of sons and daughters victims of femicide", an initiative of the FEMMAP teaching innovation project, which combines research with teaching. The activity stands out for its interdisciplinary methodology, which has made it possible to combine different areas of knowledge to address a complex problem such as the situation of children who are victims of femicide. During the day, the teams have worked on the design of a geomap prototype that will improve intervention and protection strategies for victims of femicide. This tool seeks to provide an innovative and more effective perspective in the care of these cases.

The Master's Degree in Urban Anthropology, Migrations and Social Intervention (MAUMIS) organized a new edition of Open Seminars that were held between April 7 and May 21, 2025. Four invited researchers presented their current research: Claudia Anleu (URV), Verónica Jaramillo (CONICET-Argentina), Irene Sabaté (UB) and Ana Urmeneta (Habemus Tesis).

From April 7 to 10, 2025, the week of the Doctorate in Anthropology and Communication was held. With presentations by established research staff and young researchers in training, it was a week very rich in debates.

The MARC colloquium 2024-25, coordinated by Blanca Deusdad Ayala and Fernando Vidal, will address this topic, exploring the ethical problem in another of its dimensions. The methodological, ethnographic, and theoretical analysis boundaries of anthropology as a science that addresses issues of marginality and discrimination often involve activism in defense of marginalized groups, as well as a commitment to human rights and various social and political causes. The colloquium aims to explore the dynamics of engagement and activism in anthropology through presentations by involved practitioners. How does activism impact research, and what does it mean to conduct engaged research? With these questions, the Seminar aims to address a dimension of anthropology that is not always sufficiently highlighted or conceptualized.